Godly Corp – IndieGoGo Demo

Stuck in a deadend desk job with idiots for colleagues and no chance of promotion? Longing for the chance to take on greater responsibility and show those good for nothing bosses what they’re missing out on? Well Godly Corp is taking applications.

The phrase ‘desk job simulator’ doesn’t immediately leap to the forefront of my mind as making for a gripping gaming experience. But then again, I don’t have tentacles nor the fate of a planet in my hands (er, suckers). You see in Godly Corp, you take the role of a new intern in the company, tasked with completing a series of objectives against a time limit. These aren’t your run of the mill jobs though. Using your tentacle, you manipulate obstacles on screen by grabbing hold of them, combining them, bashing them and any combination thereof, all the while spinning numerous other plates to finish the job to your employers satisfaction.

Control is fairly simple but offers a level of variety within its base structure. Your mouse moves you around the screen, the scroll wheel zooming you in and out. When you see an item you want, bash the right mouse button to grab it and the same again to release whilst certain objects can be used with a stab of the left button. If you are tasked with globe manipulation, the standard FPS controls apply with W, A, S and D allowing you to rotate the planet as required.

In its current form there are 3 levels to play through and whilst the same core controls and dynamics are used across each, they all play differently. It took me a little while to get into the flow of it, largely because I neglected to read the controls properly and kept wondering why my ever heftier whacking of the left mouse button wasn’t having the desired effect. But once I got it, I started to have fun. The third level in particular presented a fun challenge. You have to build a planet against the backdrop of a hologram, the picture showing you which piece is required next. First block in place, you then have to grab the tube of glue and squeeze a drop out, then when the next piece is slotted in place, a bash of the hammer is required. On my second play through I was doing pretty well, only to get smashed to smithereens by a passing meteor. Oh well, just another day at the office.

As the game is based around real world physics, the actual playing experience is somewhat more chaotic than words can convey. Your tentacle moves around the screen like Usain Bolt, sending cups, photos and anything else in its path flying, in turn making grabbing the item you want extra hard. Combine this with the multiple events happening at once and things quickly get chaotic. In the second level for instance, just as you get a grasp of foliage management, an angry robot storms in and tries to send one straight up your grill. Grab the gun that conveniently drops on your desk and give him and his buddies what for, but don’t take you eye of the trees or it will be game over either way.

Worth Playing?

Once I understood the cadence of the game, I started to have fun. Each level is a short playthrough, making it perfect for a quick game and the ranking system at the end of each level provides for some replay value. There were moments of frustration, and not just my inability to read the controls. The twitchy nature of the tentacle meant that I kept knocking my spray can off the desk in the second level and whilst it would respawn, it was all too easy to repeat the trick. Using the scroll wheel to move in and out of the screen is fine in theory but when this is also the chosen method to press buttons on screen, you may cry out for the option to simply press the left mouse button, or even, say, the space bar.

Godly Corp feels like it would be perfect for the Virtual Reality space, and indeed the developers have indicated a desire to pursue this if their funding goal is reached. Physically waving your tentacle around (steady) with an extra dimension would likely serve to alleviate some of the minor control-related frustrations I experienced. As things stand, this is still a fun, quirky simulator with a good line in off the wall humour and well balanced challenge.

How To Play

Find out more about Godly Corp, the 3 person development team at Polish developer TR8 Torus Studios, and try the 3 level demo for yourself, here.

And if you like what you see, you can back the project on the IndieGoGo page.